1983 Sears Christmas Catalog

[BillyHW]

Hey folks, thought this was neat:

 

http://www.wishbookw...hbook/index.htm

 

The video games are at the back.

 

Neat observations:

 

1. The 2600 features 'self-centering joysticks'. Wow! The 5200's joysticks must already have been legendary.

 

2. Vectrex only $99. I wonder how they were able to do that while including the screen as well. Wish I had a time machine to go back and buy one.

 

3. Tons of phoney-baloney screenshots.

 

4. Didn't know that the Intellivision had a music keyboard peripheral.

 

5. The ColecoVision Atari adaptor is the same price as the 2600/Gemini...so you don't really save anything.

 

The site doesn't have a catalog for '84, but the '85, '86 and '87 catalogs don't carry any video games at all, just a couple Commodore computers.

 

Video games don't reappear until the '88 catalog:

 

http://www.wishbookw...hbook/index.htm

 

The 7800 and SMS are both represented, but the best pages belong to the NES. Still more phoney-baloney screenshots. Check out the screen shot of NES Black Tiger! And here's another oddity, they post a screen shot of Guantlet, but then say it's not available. Weird, why would they waste space like that?

 

Does anyone know of any more sites with catalog scans? I would be most interested in Consumer's Distributing catalogs of the 1980s and early 90s.

[BydoEmpire]

I love that site.

[DesertJets]

I am very family with that website. As a kid I would pour over the Sears annual catalog and the wishbook. I can go through the 1988 one in particular and point out the specific items I wanted as a kid. I even saved the scans of the Atari stuff just for fun.

 

If you go back to the 1979 wishbook, I believe the site has that one, and compare the prices of the VCS to the 83 one you can begin to see the clear signs that the market was crashing. In the 79 catalog the VCS was $154.95 with Target Fun as the pack-in, $549.95 for the Atari 400 computer. Then by 83 the VCS is $89.95 before a rebate with two pack-in games. Conversely the then new 800XL was retailing for $249.99. For all the consoles in the 83 wishbook they were already marked down from earlier seasonal catalogs.

 

 

 

But seriously awesome stuff. P. 620 of the 1979 catalog, I would kill for those plastic model Star Trek ships -- I'll take both the Enterprise and the Klingon Battlecruiser thank you. And slot cars, OMG..... I think I know what my nephew is getting for his birthday.

[raskar42]

Those screen shots are the phoniest kind of bologna.

 

 

 

$9.99 for Sears rocket launch? where's my time machine?

[sqoon]

The slot car race tracks bring back more memories fro me than anything from that era.

[128Kgames]

Sears and JC Penny, those were the best catalogs to get for the holiday season! Always wanted the "exclusive" slot car set in the 'Penny catalog, it was always outrageous!

[misspent_youth]

I noticed the Gemini has ColecoVision Donkey Kong in the cartridge slot.

[StanJr]

Aimee will flip will see when she sees this site! We both get waves of nostalgia when we pour over those pages. I am as hyped about the Star Wars toys and stuff as I am about the video games!

 

Thanks for the share!

[raskar42]

ha i like how the b-wing is upside down. that's soo stupi- EWOK UNDEROOS!

[+Random Terrain]

I like it better here:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/wishbook/sets/72057594058700769/

 

Easier for me to navigate and find what I want.

 

 

Here are more catalogs:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/wishbook/collections/72157600003636126/

[BillyHW]

Can you imagine how terrible our hand-eye coordination would be if we all didn't grow up with video games? I shudder just considering the thought.

[Reaperman]

p. 107 is game watches..

[chuckwalla]

Great stuff. I can never get enough of the classic ads (no matter how misrepresenting they were at times)!

 

ColecoVision Zaxxon at $50

Dungeons & Dragons Handheld at $22

Atari 2600 system for $60

How about a NEW VECTREX system at $99 - if I had a time machine i'd snatch up a few of those buggers

Edited May 9, 2012 by chuckwalla

[Desfeek]

Anyone have an extra copy of this for sale (this, or the 1982 version, EDIT: or the 1983 Montgomery Ward one)? Either that or a link to a full set of images download?

Edited May 9, 2012 by Desfeek

[raskar42]

p. 107 is game watches..

 

$29 for a nelsonic frogger watch? I'm gonna cry.

 

also this kid knows he's a badass.

 

[BillyHW]

p. 107 is game watches..

 

$29 for a nelsonic frogger watch? I'm gonna cry.

 

also this kid knows he's a badass.

 

 

Why, how much is that worth now?

[SRGilbert]

I loved those catalogs. I was already excited about getting them by the end of August every year. It was the only good thing about summer ending! I grew up in a pretty small town, and those catalogs were the only way to see a lot of that stuff.

 

I loved the toys, I loved the electronics, the guitars, everything!

[sqoon]

I loved those catalogs. I was already excited about getting them by the end of August every year. It was the only good thing about summer ending! I grew up in a pretty small town, and those catalogs were the only way to see a lot of that stuff.

 

I loved the toys, I loved the electronics, the guitars, everything!

 

I'm sure those Sears catalogs increased at other stores as well. Stoked kids who knew what they wanted, but no Sears within driving distance.

[Almost Rice]

I remember looking in the Service Merchandise and Consumers Distributing catalogs. Brings back lots of memories going over those catalogs

[BydoEmpire]

My parents would hide the JC Penny and Sears catalogs until after Halloween. It was always a game for my brother, sister and I to scour the house in September and October to try to find the catalog. We did find it a couple years.

[Catsmasher]

I still cant get over how much the game cartridges cost even back then. $40 back then for a single game for the 2600! That is $100 in today's money.

Makes the new games look like a bargain.

[cybercylon]

I am very family with that website. As a kid I would pour over the Sears annual catalog and the wishbook. I can go through the 1988 one in particular and point out the specific items I wanted as a kid. I even saved the scans of the Atari stuff just for fun.

 

If you go back to the 1979 wishbook, I believe the site has that one, and compare the prices of the VCS to the 83 one you can begin to see the clear signs that the market was crashing. In the 79 catalog the VCS was $154.95 with Target Fun as the pack-in, $549.95 for the Atari 400 computer. Then by 83 the VCS is $89.95 before a rebate with two pack-in games. Conversely the then new 800XL was retailing for $249.99. For all the consoles in the 83 wishbook they were already marked down from earlier seasonal catalogs.

 

 

 

But seriously awesome stuff. P. 620 of the 1979 catalog, I would kill for those plastic model Star Trek ships -- I'll take both the Enterprise and the Klingon Battlecruiser thank you. And slot cars, OMG..... I think I know what my nephew is getting for his birthday.

 

If you account for inflation, that Atari 400 in 1979 would cost over $1600 today.

[Nukey Shay]

...And be comparable to the processing power of the highest-end home computers available today, too. Suddenly, $1600 isn't all that much when you consider that.

 

Of course, if you really want to buy an Atari computer for such a price...I've got a slightly-used 800 available